Haken v. new single Nightingale (April 26)

[King Postwhore]

I love both but Affinity is just a hair better in my book.

[Mosh]

This might've been mentioned before, but I could easily see years from now The Mountain vs Affinity being discussed in the same way that DT fans discuss I&W vs Awake.

[Nick]

This might've been mentioned before, but I could easily see years from now The Mountain vs Affinity being discussed in the same way that DT fans discuss I&W vs Awake.

And just like with that debate, the earlier album is clearly the better one.

[Implode]

The Mountain and Affinity are both incredible, and I find my favorite switching between the two depending on my mood. They are definitely different enough to make the choice incredibly difficult.

However, one objective thing The Mountain does have: a longer runtime. 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

The Mountain and Affinity are both incredible, and I find my favorite switching between the two depending on my mood. They are definitely different enough to make the choice incredibly difficult.

However, one objective thing The Mountain does have: a longer runtime. 

In your opinion.

[home]

Affinity rules tho! 

[axeman90210]

I find that the high points of The Mountain are better than Affinity for me (The Architect doesn't have a partner on the same level to compare against the Falling Back to Earth + Pareidolia tag team), but Affinity is overall a more consistent album with fewer songs that I don't at least really like yet.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

Like Haken? Click and join the fun over at P&S.

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=50221.0

[KevShmev]

I totally missed the boat on it when I first heard this band, but The Point of No Return is one of their best songs.  That main keyboard melody (first heard around :45) is totally awesome, and when it is brought back at the climax at the end of the song, that is great, great stuff. 

[KevShmev]

Hmmmm, my attempt to bump this thread failed.

Looks like I need to talk smack about the singer's voice and/or Cockroach King again...

[axeman90210]

Got the VIP upgrade for the Philly show. Once you factor in the free t-shirt it comes with, not a bad deal.

[King Postwhore]

 

Kev, I've stayed away from playing them for a while because I was overplaying them but im ready to spin them again.

[KevShmev]

See, for me, after being a lukewarm for a while, I have finally gotten into them in a big way and have overplayed them this spring.  They really only have a few songs I do not like at all now.

[axeman90210]

I keep on meaning to spend some quality time with Aquarius and Visions, but Restorations, The Mountain, and Affinity are just too damn good to not listen to.

[KevShmev]

It's easy for me to hit it all since I made an mp3 CD for the car, and since the only have four albums plus an EP, it all fits on there.  My growing love for The Point of No Return is helped by it being the first song on the CD (the songs are on the CD in chronological order), so when I pop the CD in, I will always listen to that before skipping around.

Really, the only songs I never or almost never listen to are Darkest Light, Eternal Rain and Initiate. Those three stand out to me as the three weakest songs they have done.  I don't listen to Nocturnal Conspiracy a lot, because for me to listen to a 13-minute song on a regular basis, it has to be damn good (at worst), and while not a bad song, it's not damn good.

At this rate, my 10 favorites would be:

The Point of No Return
Streams
Celestial Elixir
Deathless
Visions
The Path/Atlas Stone
Because It's There
Falling Back to Earth
Somebody
1985

[YtseJamittaja]

My favorite song at the moment is Endless Knot, it has so much power that I'm always headbanging when it comes from the playlist 

1985 is my another favorite, I love Ray's drum work in Affinity, especially the first minute in 1985 and first minutes in Architect are so challenging that I always get lost somewhere!

[KevShmev]

The keyboard player is still my favorite member of the band, but the drummer is pretty great, too.  Both guitarists sound really good, although I have no clue who plays what.

[GasparXR]

The keyboard player is still my favorite member of the band, but the drummer is pretty great, too.  Both guitarists sound really good, although I have no clue who plays what.

I have the same problem, they're both equally skilled at playing and their style of playing is also pretty similar. They have small nuances in their solos that make them stand out but sometimes I find out I'm wrong when I guess who plays what.

[ariich]

The keyboard player is still my favorite member of the band, but the drummer is pretty great, too.  Both guitarists sound really good, although I have no clue who plays what.

I have the same problem, they're both equally skilled at playing and their style of playing is also pretty similar. They have small nuances in their solos that make them stand out but sometimes I find out I'm wrong when I guess who plays what.

They're honestly really not. Hen has a much smoother, jazzier, style, more legato playing, more tapping, more versatility. Charlie is more JP in style, more shreddy.

[King Postwhore]

Rich is dead on.  You see that live.

[ariich]

Also to say that in terms of soloing, I don't find Diego that interesting for the most part. But his sound design is phenomenal and a huge part of Haken's overall sound.

[King Postwhore]

Sort of like Tony Kaye in the 80's Yes.   

[KevShmev]

How much did Kaye actually play on those records?  I always thought that Rabin did a lot of the keyboard work and Kaye was there in name only to play a little and give more credence to them using the Yes name (even though Kaye was part of the original Cinema group before Anderson came aboard and it became a Yes record).

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of that many solos Tejeida plays, but that is okay, since keyboard solos are not easy to nail. His overall sound and style are both awesome, though. The solo at the end of Drowning in the Flood definitely sounds like they borrowed Jordan Rudess for that song.

[King Postwhore]

I can't answer that but I've seen many pictures of Kaye in the studio for those albums.

[KevShmev]

BTW, why is the band touring for the 10 year anniversary of their first album when it came out 7 years ago? 

Second, why is a band this new already doing an anniversary tour for a record?  Seems like that is what bands do once they are past their prime and are needing a hook to sell concert tickets.

[home]

The tour is for the 10th anniversary of the band not of their first album  And I don't think they need it as a hook to sell tickets as they just did a headlining tour for affinity before this and afaik are still rising in popularity in the prog scene.

[KevShmev]

Right, I get that. Neither of my questions were meant to be a criticism of any kind. It just seems kinda weird.

[King Postwhore]

They are riding their new popularity and this is really the first year the tour is worldwide.  It with help them immensely.

[Nick]

Yeah, it's definitely weird for a band to do it this early in a tour, but they are riding that line between Haken as a hobby and Haken as a possible main job, and if this helps them ride the wave towards that, I'm all for it.

[ariich]

The tour is for the 10th anniversary of the band not of their first album 

This.

And yeah I guess maybe 10th anniversary is a fairly early one, but at the same time they're not making a huge song and dance of it. I think they were just looking to tour more after the Affinity tour, and it being the 10th anniversary gave a nice thing to tour around.

[KevShmev]

Makes sense.

Yeah, it's definitely weird for a band to do it this early in a tour, but they are riding that line between Haken as a hobby and Haken as a possible main job, and if this helps them ride the wave towards that, I'm all for it.

Is that a legit thing being discussed within the band?  If so, that would suck to see them become like Spock's, where the albums become less frequent because it is their hobby on the side, rather than their main gig/job.  Hopefully, the tour this year will go well, and you have to think that over half of the band playing on that Shattered Fortress thing could give them more exposure.

[axeman90210]

What I remember from talking with I think Rich on CttE was that they're approaching but not quite at the point where they can ditch their day jobs for doing Haken full time.

[ariich]

Is that a legit thing being discussed within the band?  If so, that would suck to see them become like Spock's, where the albums become less frequent because it is their hobby on the side, rather than their main gig/job.  Hopefully, the tour this year will go well, and you have to think that over half of the band playing on that Shattered Fortress thing could give them more exposure.

They all have day jobs already, or at least other ways to make money such as other bands/projects, teaching, etc. And Haken has been buiding in stature, popularity and success so I don't think any of them are looking to make Haken less of a thing - if anything I think they see it as being more reliable and steady.

[KevShmev]

Ah, okay. That is good to hear. 

I listened to all of Visions the other day from start to finish and really enjoyed how it was a concept album that had little nods along the way that reminded you that was a concept album. As much as I love Neal Morse's music, the whole "Let's beat you over the head with reprises on every concept album" (that, really, The Who started with both of their concept albums) can be a bit tiresome at times, and it's good to see that other prog acts do not succumb to that way of thinking.

[ariich]

Yeah I like that Haken still has very distinctive songs on the concept albums, but a handful of nods and reprises to notice and enjoy.